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Tag Archives: flight coordinator

How much training do you provide for your employees? Every Part 135 charter operator, depending on its operations, is required by regulation to provide pilots with company- and aircraft-specific ground training, simulator or aircraft flight training, emergency training, hazmat training, international training, security training… The list of training requirements for pilots is seemingly endless but training needs for non-pilots aren’t specifically addressed in the regulations.

Industry best practices now encourage Part 135 operators to provide all employees with training related to the operator’s safety program, emergency response procedures, and job-specific training. I think that’s a great start – but it’s not enough.

What industry did your accounting employees come from? Do you think they have any idea what “Part 135” means? Let’s look at a few different positions that could benefit from a general understanding of Part 135 regulations, the company’s responsibilities to the FAA, and the potential ramifications of inadvertent or intentional violations. When the FAA was at the height of the operational control and A008 hysteria, it wasn’t uncommon for inspectors to interview non-flight related staff, like sales personnel or accounting staff, and in some cases, these helpful but untrained individuals created problems for the air carrier.

Flight Coordinator/Controller/Scheduler: A charter operator hires a flight coordinator from the local flight school, where the individual was scheduling instructors, students, and aircraft. The flight coordinator, being the new kid, draws the short straw for night and weekend on-call duties and receives a late Saturday night phone call from an FBO where a company airplane is overnighting. The FBO – which is also a repair station – happened to notice the airplane has a flat tire and wants to know if they should fix it so the airplane is ready for the next day. Newbie flight coordinator, thinking he/she is being proactive and helpful, tells the FBO to go ahead and fix the tire. Why? Because the flight coordinator has never received training on the importance of ALL maintenance on a Part 135 aircraft being conducted under the air carrier’s maintenance program. He/she didn’t know how critical it is to coordinate maintenance functions with the Director of Maintenance or a designee, regardless of the seemingly minor nature of the repair or time of day.

Sales Staff: How many times has your sales staff sold a trip into an airport with a runway too short for the intended airplane? This is particularly confusing to untrained staff if that airplane goes into that airport frequently under Part 91. Has your sales staff failed to advise a client of restrictions on firearms? Or sold a trip that will exceed a crew’s duty period? A clear introduction to Part 135 requirements and comparison with Part 91 rules can help sales staff understand the limitations of Part 135 – and help you to avoid frustrating or losing a client!

Accounting Staff: Some people question the need for an individual responsible for accounts receivable to know what “Part 135” or “operational control” means. While it’s not necessary for the individual to have a PhD in all Part 135 issues, it sure helps to have a general understanding of why Aircraft Owner A flies everything Part 135 and must be billed federal excise taxes but Aircraft Owner B flies all fights under Part 91 and doesn’t pay FET.

Reception and Line Staff: Certainly these individuals don’t need lengthy and detailed training in Part 135 requirements, but some basic training can be helpful to understanding their responsibilities within the company. Most importantly, a general understanding of Part 135 requirements and the FAA’s authority over the company can help a receptionist or line personnel to properly answer, “Hi! I’m Inspector Gadget from the FAA and I’m here to help!” (Of course the correct answer is a very courteous, “Hello! Let me introduce you to our [Director of Operations / Chief Pilot / Director of Maintenance / Agent for Service].”) But first your receptionist or line personnel must know WHO those individuals are (does your line staff know who your company’s Agent for Service is?) and must know that seemingly friendly chats with federal inspectors can lead to trouble for the company if the company representative “guesses” or misspeaks.

Director of Operations / Chief Pilot / Director of Maintenance: Part 119 lays out the requirements and qualifications for these management personnel, but the regulations allow for experience in Part 121 or 135. If you hire a furloughed airline pilot to serve as your chief pilot, are you sure he/she understands the intricacies of Part 135? Your new chief pilot might be very experienced and highly intelligent, but think about it – most 121 pilots forget how to get weather reports or NOTAMs because “dispatch does that”. Don’t you want these folks – ESPECIALLY these folks – to understand how Part 135 differs from other regulatory structures?

I recently developed a training module for a client who realized a basic introduction to Part 135 regulations is a helpful addition to their existing training. This training is required of ALL employees, not just pilots or flight controllers or maintenance personnel. The training is customized it to include their company-specific policies and procedures and I have delivered the training in person to a number of their employees. The client will soon have a trained individual to conduct future sessions in-house. Do you provide your employees with enough basic training to fully understand their roles and responsibilities within the company? Consider adding a “Basic 135” training module to your curriculum. Training doesn’t have to be complicated, lengthy, or expensive, and a properly trained staff can save you considerably – in time, money, and headaches!